Save Me, Please
by AnArmyBoysCowGirl
Summary: Remake of Save me! Alice is lost without her brother. But when she moves to Oklahoma and is reunited with her old friend Dally and meets some new friends things seem alittle better. But she still misses Seth. Can Darry and Dally help her feel safe again?
1. Chapter 1

**This is a remake of the other story I started with Alice and Darry called Save Me. I got myself stuck on that one so I descided to scrap it. I'll keep it posted for alittle while but I'll delete it soon. This story will basically follow the same line as that one but I have a better lay out for this one.**

**I worked to try to have all correct spelling and grammar and I did pretty good I think but if you see any mistakes please just look over it Thanks :)**

**Please Read it and Comment it. Give me your thoughts or suggestions. If you don't comment it then I wont write on it anymore. So Review please :)**

**Only age change really is Darry's 18...**

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****Dally's P.O.V.**

I laid my head back on the armrest of the Curtis's couch and kicked my feet up on the rest on the other side, closing my eyes trying to sleep since I didn't get much sleep at Buck's last night. It was Saturday morning and we were all at the Curtis's house. Johnny and Ponyboy sat on the other couch in front of the TV watching Mickey Mouse and munching on chocolate cake and chocolate milk. Sodapop and Steve sat on the floor playing cards on the coffee table. Darry sat in the armchair reading the armchair. I was nearly asleep when Two-Bit came barging in through the screen door, like always a goofy grin on his face but today it seemed a little brighter.

"Hey, guys, did you see you're getting a little cute new neighbor across the street?" he asked, plopping down next to Johnny on the couch, stealing a bite of his cake. If it had been me, I would have smacked him in the back of the head for stealing my cake but Johnny was too nice and shy to say anything about it. He had always been like that even before the jumping. I didn't know if it was a good or a bad thing for him. Keeping his mouth shut kept him out of trouble, but not being able to defend himself if got him jumped. I didn't want him to end up like me but I tried to teach him to at least protect himself when he needed to.

Soda snorted. "Cute? He sure as hell aint cute."

"We met him earlier..." Pony mumbled, taking a swig of his milk. "He was mean and rude."

"He?" Two-Bit asked bewildered. "Naw, there aint no guy out there. Only a cute little blond carrying boxes in."

The boys eyes brightened and they all perked up except Darry who kept reading his paper. I grinned thinking I found out what I was going to do today. Fooling around with dark red haired Silvia was starting to get boring now after doing it over and over again. But a blond could be fun. I leaned back and lifted the white weathering curtain to look outside. Two-Bit was right; there was a small petite girl with chopped boy short blond hair standing in the yard. She was wearing a light pink skirt, white tee-shirt and an over sized faded brown leather jacket. Something about that girl and that jacket made me do a double take. They looked so familiar I knew for sure I knew that girl and who that jacket belonged to. I had seen him a couple months ago but I hadn't seen her for years, since she was a little girl.

The boys were gathered around me at the window by now, whistling and making comments about what they would do to her. I just laughed coldly, I knew these boys were good and wouldn't actually do anything bad. They were just all talk, they might say things to this girl but they would never do anything she wouldn't like. I knew she could take them if they actually did do anything. If it were Tim and his boys saying something about this girl I would have already had their lights knocked out. I have promises to keep and I wasn't going to break them.

"Glory, if I wasn't with Kathy..." Two-Bit grinned letting out a low whistle. All the others agreed.

Darry glanced up from his paper and shook his head. "Enough, you lot."

I grinned standing up, pulling on my black leather jacket and pulling out my cigarettes. "Well- I'm going to go introduce myself."

"We'll go to!" Soda called after me as I strode out onto the porch as they scrambled to get their sneakers on.

Darry stood up. "You boys better be polite." he said as if he was everyone's father.

Across the street she had picked up a box and disappeared into the rundown house with chipped white paint. I jumped off the porch and strode across the street. The boys weren't far behind. I leaned against the bent chain linked fence and let out a low long whistle that ended in a sudden high pitch that was the signal for any gang to know another gang was around. It was like that here and it was like that in New York to, she would know what it meant. Not long after did she slowly step into the open doorway of the house, her arms were crossed for her chest tightly as she looked around at all the boys now standing outside her fence. I grinned lighting my cigarette, looking her up and down. Alice Hill hadn't changed much in 6 years, there was still the fear and shyness in her eyes but she tried to seem tuff as she glared around at us.

**Alice's P.O.V.**

When I heard that whistle I froze and my heart started pounding painfully in my chest. I was all the way in Oklahoma, I was in the city but it was still the middle of nowhere compared to New York. Did they even have gangs all the way out here in the country? Slowly I set the box of china on the kitchen counter and patted the pocket of my older brother Seth's brown leather jacket making sure my switchblade was still in there. Then I walked into the doorway of the house tensed up waiting to get jumped. I really wished Seth was still here with me, he would have protected me from anything but he left me alone with my father months ago without any explanation. He had just woke me up one night and said he had to leave and I couldn't follow him. The next day he completely disappeared with no trace. Not even the guys in the gang knew where he went. Since I didn't have Seth here to meet whoever was waiting for me outside, I hated to say I actually wished my father was still here then he would have chased whoever was out there away. But he left about an hour ago for a bar, leaving me to put away the few boxes that carried what little we had. All the big furniture like the couch or his bed had already been put into place inside.

Outside standing on the other side of the chain link fence were 7 greaser boys. The one leaning against the fence, wearing a black leather jacket, smoking a cigarette, his face like a lynx, something about his mean looking face and stance made me feel like I was looking at someone I used to know. But it was impossible. I only knew the gang in New York. I was in the country now these boys looked more like cowboys then greasers or hoods and I had never met a cowboy before in my life. In the back the oldest looking boy had a strong build, short brown hair and amazing blue gray eyes. In front of him the second oldest one had a comical grin on his face, wearing a Mickey Mouse t-shirt. One was gouges like a movie star. The other next to him looked a little plan. Besides them were two younger boys, one with reddish brown hair and the other with jet black hair and who looked like a lost hurt puppy. I stepped out onto the porch and walked to the steps, crossing my arms over my chest and leaning against the beam, trying to seem cool and tuff.

"Can I help you?" I asked slowly, looking around at them.

"Not really," the movie star said stepping up to the fence. "We're here to welcome you to the neighborhood. Me and my brothers live over there, across the street." He pointed at the house then pointed to himself. "I'm Sodapop Curtis. This is my older brother Darry," He pointed to the strong one in the back. "And my little brother Ponyboy." He pointed to the reddish brown boy.

"Nice to meet you," I said slowly, smiling a little, then added, "Nice names."

"Thanks," He and Ponyboy said smiling hugely. The older brother, Darry, didn't talk; he just stood there with his arms crossed. "And this is the rest of our gang Two-Bit," Sodapop continued pointing to the second oldest boy in the bunch, the one with the Mickey Mouse tee. "Steve-" the boy around Soda's age, who had complicated curls and swirls in his hair. "Johnny-" the puppy dog. "And-"

The guy leaning against my fence cut Sodapop off before he could say his name. "I'm hurt you don't recognize me, Alice," he said in a sarcastic upset voice. Then he grinned roguishly at me and it sent memories flashing into my mind. He was about 10 almost 11 when he left New York and he was one of the wildest boys in our gang.

I stared at him in complete shock. "D-D-Dally? Dallas Winston?" He kept the smug grin on his face and I knew I was right. "Dally!" I shirked, nearly screamed, unable to control myself I dropped my tough act and jumped down the porch steps and ran across the yard. Dallas Winston wasn't a compassionate guy and wouldn't hug anybody no matter who they were. But I was so happy to see a familiar face I didn't care. I swung open the gate and threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his waist and burying my face in his chest. A bit surprised he chuckled once and laid a hand on the back of my short blond hair, keeping me there for a minute before musing my hair roughly and pushing me back.

"Enough of that, grease girl," he grumbled. When I looked up at him a superior grin was on his face as he looked down at me. "Well, well, well, look what we got here. A New York greaser girl. I'm still hurt you didn't remember me, girl."

"You got arrested!" I squeaked confused about how he got here after 6 years. By his slight country ancient I guessed he must have been here for awhile. Our old gang in New York was huge, made up of around 40 people and it was so dangerous, like a war zone that we lost and gained people every day. The ages in our gang ranged from 30-7. With such a range of ages the older gang leaders split the younger members into age groups and gave every age group different tasks. Like the age group of 7 year olds- 10 year olds, they did less dangerous jobs like being lookouts. Then the 11 year olds- 14 year olds started getting more violent and had more privileges, they got to start stealing and beating people up. Once you turned 15 you were a full out hood, running with the oldest gang members. Dally was making his transition into the 11-15 year old group when he was arrested, performing the test that saw if you were fit for that group or not. Seth was the leader of that bunch and Dally was going to be his second in command but he got arrested. We had heard he got out but when we went by his house to look for him, the place was empty. No one knew where they had gone.

He snorted a laugh and nodded. "Yeah, I did. Once my old man bailed me out, he picked us up and left. I've been out here ever since."

"But you never told anyone? You never called?"

He shook his head. "Didn't see the point. I knew I wasn't goin' back and I knew Seth had to choose a second hand man soon so I stayed out of it and let Donny have it.

I flinched at those names but recovered myself quickly so no one noticed. It hurt to think about Seth but hearing his name out loud hurt even more. And before I left Donny had been my boyfriend of 3 years. I hated the relationship and Donny just had fun showing me off and talking a bunch of bull. All of it over exaggerated. We had done it once but I wasn't wild and crazy enough for him so he made stuff up to impress the other boys. I was only in the relationship because I was shy and he had asked me. Seth thought it was a good match since I was the little sister of a gang leader and Donny was second in command. I tried to get to know Donny and make the relationship better but it was hard to get through to him. He didn't care about anything. If someone called him an idiot, he would just laugh and agree with them. He only cared about getting into trouble. The one night we did it, I thought I had finally got through to him and he would always be as gentle and caring like he had been then. But the next day he was back to being a cold, emotionless hood. He was in jail when I left and I knew he wouldn't notice I was gone when he got out.

"You two know each other?" the boy in the Mickey Mouse shirt asked suddenly and I remembered they were there too, watching us.

"Yeah, I've known this grease girl since she was a kid tagen' along with her big brother and trying to be apart of the gang," He grinned back at them and reached out to muse my hair.

I bit my lip as I glared at him quickly, running my fingers though my hair trying to put it all back in place. I felt my cheeks get warm and I hoped they weren't bright pink. The boys laughed but the big one in the back didn't, he just looked at Dally then glanced at me. My heart fluttered nervously, when I saw his blue grey eyes. They were hard and frozen but something about them made my heart skip a beat. He was very handsome; if I had seen him on the street I would have just thought he was a Soc. Most the guys I ever saw were mean ugly hoods, with knocked out teeth or black eyes. I remembered Donny; he was probably one of the more handsome hoods I've been around. He was always in and out of jail so his hair was always a short army crew cut, he had budging muscles from always beating someone up but he was still tall and lanky. His eyes were so dark they were nearly black. They were hard eyes like this guy's but you could almost see through the hardness of this guy to see a real person. I'm not sure if you could ever see a real person in Donny, just a black hole.

"Did you move there with your dad and brother?" Sodapop asked conversationally. "I think we met your dad earlier…" he trailed off and looked like he was trying to find the right words to finish his sentence. I was inside unpacking when I heard them try to welcome my dad into the neighborhood. But of course he hadn't been pleasant in the least.

"He's a delight, isn't he?" I said sarcastically to make him feel better. Then quickly I lied. "I'm sorry about that he was just stressed about the whole move. This is nothing like New York."

Dally shot me a skeptical glance. He knew I was lying, he knew how my dad really was.

"Did old Seth stay back in New York with the gang?" Dally asked to change the subject.

I winced and bit my upper lip when I heard his name again. "No…He left a couple months before us…I…don't know where he is…"

Something in Dally's next expression made me feel weird. He gave a tiny sort of smile. I didn't understand it. Seth used to be Dally's bestfriend; he should be worried like I was about his safety. I knew Dally to be cold sometimes but not about serious situations like this. Quickly he wiped that grin from his face and said. "I'm sure he's fine wherever he is."

I opened my mouth to ask what he meant by that but before I could there was suddenly a loud "VROOOOMMMM" from down the street. My breath caught and I exchanged a glance with Dally. He nodded knowing who it was.

"Hey, guys, we need to go an' let Alice here finish up unpacking." He said.

"We could help-"Two-Bit started but I shook my head.

"No, I'm almost done. But that's anyway." I smiled softly.

Slowly the boys nodded and turned slightly. "Wait!" Soda said turning back. "Alice, we're going to be playing football in our lot later. You can come if you want?"

I smiled again, nodding. "Sure."

"Alright. We'll swing by and pick you up later on tonight. See you!" he called as he and Steve took off running across the street doing flying flips.

"See ya, kid." Dally said, flipping the collar of his leather jacket up as he strode across the field.

"Nice to meet you, Alice," Darry said politely, speaking for the first time. His deep voice made the butterflies in my stomach flutter.

"Nice to meet you too, Darry."

He gave me a small smile and the rest of them turned to leave. I watched them go for a moment the quickly scurried back inside to unpack before my old man belted me.

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**This chapters alittle short. I have the second chapter all written down on my notebook but I still have to type it into the computer. But my laptops broken so I have to use my dad's computer but he needs it for work too. I have half of the chapter typed in I'll type the rest in as soon as I can and get it up.**

**Please Read it and Comment it. Give me your thoughts and suggestions please :) Good or bad? If you don't review then I wont write on it :) Please and Thank you :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry I forgot to put I dont own The Outsiders on the first chapter**

**Ignore spelling errors or grammer errors**

**Read it. Comment it. Give me any ideas or suggestions please and thank you :)**

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My father had only come home to get his tobacco pipe and after that he was gone, back to the bar again, probably for the rest of the night. So I was safe for the rest of the day to finish unpacking what little we had and make sure everything was settled the way it should be. I changed out of my pale pink skirt around 5 and into some second hand jeans, which were given to me by Seth's girlfriend, Melina, from when she was my age. I liked Melina, she was like my sister. She was nice and sweet and didn't think she was the queen bee and could boss me around since she was dating a gang leader. She was beautiful too. She wasn't like the other greaser girls, they were all unhealthily skinny so you could see every bone in their body, their faces plastered with makeup and their hair so greasy and drained of nutrients so it just hung limply down their backs. Melina took care of herself, curves in all the right places, just light makeup so it looked natural on her face and her long silky dark brown hair had natural bouncy curls that bounced down her back. But she had disappeared from me too. The same night Seth left she was found missing too. At first I had thought they had run off somewhere to get married then come back, but weeks went by, then months and they still never came back. When I found out we were moving away from New York, I tried to find ways to convince my dad to stay or I would runaway myself so he could go and I would stay. I hadn't given up on the hope that one day I would walk down the street and see them, holding hands and laughing like they always were. What if one day they did come back and find the apartment empty? How would they find us? How would I find them? Would I ever see them again? I cried myself to sleep every night thinking about it. Thinking about it now I wanted to cry.

But there was no time to cry now. As I was standing there thinking, staring blankly at the wall in my bedroom, there was suddenly a low whistle from the front of the house. I jumped, snapping out of my daze and hurried to the living room. They boys were standing outside the screen door peering in. I felt a bit embarrassed letting them see our pathetic living room set. We only had one short, beat up couch with huge holes and stuffing hanging out of it. A block of wood was our coffee table and a tiny TV. Nothing else. No rugs, no arm chairs, no bookshelves. The rest of the house was about the same. The dining room was empty because my father didn't eat at tables. The kitchen only had a stove and refrigerator with the built in counters and sink. His bedroom only had one king sized bed. And my room had nothing, just a mat and blanket on the floor.

"Hey, Alice," they all greeted me in unison.

"Hi…" I smiled as I grabbed Seth's brown leather jacket and house keys. I studied them quickly trying to remember their names to their faces. There was no forgetting Dally, Darry or Sodapop but I had to think for a moment about Steve and Johnny. They moved out of the way so I could step out the door and locked it behind me. We all made small chit chat as they showed me down the street to the lot.

"How old are you, Alice?" Soda asked, looking back at me.

I was walking close to Dally, Johnny striding close on his other side. "16. I'll be 17 in a couple weeks."

"How old is your brother?" Steve asked next.

"He's 19 now…" Wherever he was, he was 19 as of a month ago.

For the rest of the short walk the boys talked on and on about different things and from listening to them I learned that their little gang wasn't really much of a gang. There wasn't really a leader of the group or a discipline system. They were more just a group of friends who watched after each other like a family. I also learned that the three Curtis brothers didn't have parents anymore. Their parents had died a couple months ago in a car accident and now Darry was taking care of the younger two. I admired him for that. He was only about a year younger than Seth and he was working two jobs, taking care of two boys and also helping take care of the rest of their gang. It must have been hard being so young and having that much responsibilities but he was doing good from what I saw. Sodapop and Ponyboy were both handsome kind boys.

When we finally got to the lot I remembered that I didn't even know how to play football. Football needed space like a field to run around in, there weren't any fields in the city just narrow alleys. In New York they preferred basketball because it was easy to set up a hoop somewhere in an alley and throw a ball into it. But sports were for the boys and not me or the other girls. I watched the boys play sometimes but I never really understood the rules of the game or the other girls were always so loud with their witch cackle giggles or they would scream and fight with each other so I would get distracted with them instead of watching.

"Alright!" Sodapop smiled brightly as he jogged into the field and swept up an odd shaped ball from the grass and twirled it around in his hands. "Who's on what team?"

"The kid with Darry and Two-Bit," Steve said, shooting Ponyboy a quick glare. "Dally, Johnny, you two can be with us."

Soda turned to me. "Alice, you can pick what team you want to be on."

My eyes widened and I opened my mouth to explain I should probably just sit to the side and watch. But besides me Dally snickered as he pulled off his leather jacket, taking the last drag on his cigarette before dropping it to the ground and grinding it under his heel. "She doesn't know how to play."

"Oh…" it went silent for a moment.

"I'll sit out and watch…" I told them slowly.

"But that's no fun." Two-Bit said, as if he were shocked I would say that.

I was ready to tell him it was fine but Dally interrupted me again, messing up my hair. "She can be a little princess like our girls, Two-Bit, she don't want to get dirty."

I shot him a glare this time. "I'm not a princess. It's fine if I sit out. I like to watch."

"Be on our team," Darry said suddenly from behind me. I jumped slightly and turned around to look at him. He was wearing a black tee shirt that showed off every huge muscle in his arms, I thought Donny had big muscles but Darry's was even bigger.

"Yeah," Ponyboy said. "Darry can teach you. He was the captain on the varsity football team in high school."

"That makes things about even," Sodapop concluded. "Now huddle up!" He tossed the brown ball to Darry then jogged across the yard with Steve.

Dally still snickering under his breath passed me, messing up my hair again. "Still trying to run with the boys, still hasn't changed." He mumbled to himself.

Silently I gritted my teeth, turning around to face Darry, Two-Bit and Ponyboy. Dally hadn't changed either. He still acted like all the others in New York by teasing me for being a tag-along little sister of a gang leader, by calling me princess, or baby greaser. I hated those names more than anything so ever since Seth got into the gang I've tried to be in it, thinking that if I did then maybe the name calling would stop. But no matter how hard I tried I was always told to go play with my dolls and it was no place for girls. A select few girls made it into the gang, but I think it was because Jack, the main gang leader of the whole gang and the oldest, thought they were boys and still didn't know the big reason that made them different yet. Those girls were mean, rude and downright nasty. It was hard to believe they were girls; they dressed like boys, talked and sounded like them, had short greased back hair like the boys and they even used cologne and not perfume so they smelled like them. I always thought they were boys.

The girls outside the gang, who were the boy's girlfriends, or sisters or something else, were almost like a small gang themselves. They were vicious and cold hearted. Sometimes they could act semi civil and pretend to be nice to each other's face but as soon as their backs were turned the trash would start. Other times it would be a full out broad fight, cursing at each other, ripping each other's hair out, scratching each other, their fights were almost scarier than the boys fight. I tried to stay away from them, but they were everywhere.

"Alright," Darry started, twirling the ball in his hands. "Two-Bit and I will work on blocking the three of them. Pony, I want you to run down the field and Alice will throw you the ball, then you run with it."

"Okay," Ponyboy grinned, starting to stretch.

"Easy enough," Two-Bit smiled. "We got the best team here, Ponyboy's the fastest runner, me and Darry are big enough to tackle them scrawny guys and they can't tackle a girl." He winked at me. "We're going to win."

I smiled halfheartedly at him then he and Ponyboy jogged to the middle of the field to practice some tackles. Darry tossed the brown leather ball and it almost fell out of my hands as I struggled to get a grip on it. The way it was shaped was so different I knew there was no way I would be able to throw it. I held it at the pointed ends with both hands and looked up to see Darry was watching me. By the way his eyebrows were raised I could tell I was doing something wrong. It made me feel stupid.

"You've really never played football before," he said, slightly amused.

My cheeks felt hot and I nodded. "No…Never."

He chuckled lightly and nodded taking a step closer. Slowly he reached out towards me but then hesitated. "May I show you?" When I nodded, he softly took my hand in his big warm ones. "When you throw it, you want to throw it with one hand…get a good grip on it…Spread your fingers out and place them on these laces…" He explained as he placed my hand in the right places. His voice was deep and gruff but the way it flowed made me melt under his gentle hands. I wasn't used to this. I was used to being handled roughly, being thrown around and being hit. But I hated that feeling and loved this one. "Okay…" he said once he was satisfied with how my hand held the ball. He took a step back. "Practice throwing once."

Doubtfully I glanced up at him then back down at the ball. Being careful to keep it secured in that one hand, I lifted the ball up and threw it. In the air it flew a couple inches before plopping to the ground with a thud, only about a foot away from me. From the middle of the field the boys exploded with laughter, I bit my lip my face blazing with invisible fire as I stared at the brown lump on the grass.

"I told ya' she can't play." Dally scoffed.

I glared up and across the field at him. Darry picked the ball back up and I looked at him, apologetically. "I really think I should sit out…"

"No," He repeated as he took my hand again. "You'll get better with practice." Soon the boys in the center of the field went back to talking or rough hosing and Darry finished lining my fingers back on the ball. But this time he didn't back up, instead he stepped closer behind me holding the ball with his big hand over my smaller one. I stiffened not being used to being so close to someone I just met but being so close to him made my heart pound so hard it hurt and I felt weak. I looked up at him confused; he had a small grin on his lips. "In the air you want the ball to twirl, it might help if you knew where you were going to throw it. When we play your going to throw it to Ponyboy. But for now let's aim for Two-Bit's head."

I giggled nervously. "That's not nice…"

He grinned down at me. "It won't hurt him." Slowly he pulled the ball back making both our arms move then threw it directly at Two-Bit's head. My jaw dropped when I noticed the ball flew out of my hand but I didn't have time to make a sound before the ball flew past Two-Bit's head, barley grazing his ear. It took him a couple seconds to notice what happened but when he finally realized it he spun around whipping his head around trying to figure out who did it. Darry chuckled and I burst out giggling. The other boys burst out laughing too imitating Two-Bit reaction.

"Well, well, well, look what he got here, boys." A sudden sneering voice said behind us and we all spun around to see a group of well dressed, snobby looking Socs striding toward us, their nice mustangs shining in the setting sun. We were silent as they strode towards us, sneering at us and laughing as they made greaser jokes.

Darry was watching them closely as he let go of me quickly and took a step back. "What do you want, Paul?" Darry asked harshly and the sound of his voice scared me. It sounded like one of the boys in the gang as they cussed, threatened and scared someone before they beat them up.

Suddenly the other boys had come up behind us flanking our sides. Dally was at my side and he and Darry stepped closer together, casually pushing me behind them. From what I saw these boys seemed to kind that I didn't believe they could be violent but now all their smiles were gone and they looked as tough as nails as they glared at the Socs. My knees were trembling but I kept it together. I had gotten jumped and into fights before so I knew how to fight. Seth's leather jacket was still wrapped around me and it helped to know that if anything happened I had my blade.

The Socs were looking us over and the biggest one, the leader, Paul, looked us over and his eyes landed on me peeking over Darry's shoulder. He smiled meanly as he looked at Darry. "Nice seeing you again, Darrel." He said with fake politeness. Darry just nodded and Paul continued. "It's been awhile. We had plans to go to college together and be roommates. But then you ditch those plans to take care of greaser kids. Which one is she? She looks about 13? You said you had a 13 year old sibling? Is she your sister? Or are you dating a 13 year old because no one will date a guy taking care of his kid siblings."

I gritted my teeth, this is why I hated being small, people always underestimated my age. The age part didn't bug me as much as the last part did though. Darry was a noble guy for taking care of his brothers and any girl who was with them would be lucky. A luck that I would never have and I knew it…None of this seemed to affect Darry. "She's just a friend. Now you better leave us and her alone."

"Just a friend, huh? Well she's cute. How old are you, sugar? Want to have some real fun?" he winked at me.

I swallowed hard but again before I could speak for myself, Dally stepped up. "This aint your turf, ski jacket scum bag, get in your car and leave before we make you."

"Make us, huh? I'd like to see you try, greaser."

Dally gave an evil grin and I took a tiny step back, my hand slipping into my jacket pocket so I could feel the cool handle of the switch blade. I didn't know how rough they fought here but I was ready. Besides Dally, Johnny took a small step back too, he looked as tough as nails still but if you looked deep in his big brown eyes you could see the fear in them. I had seen that look in people before and I knew I had that own look before. It was the look you got after being hurt and hurt real bad. On the other side of me Ponyboy was being causally pushed behind the line of older boys, by both of his older brothers. He looked mad for not being able to stand up with them but I thought they did the right thing. He had only just turned 14; he didn't need to be fighting.

While I watched the two older boys act to protect their little brother, I didn't even notice Dally step forward until the Soc and he were just inches apart. Dally reached into his pocket and pulled out his own blade, flicking it out and letting the setting sun shine on it. The Soc panicked throwing the first punch into Dally's jaw. But Dally barely budged; he cocked his other arm back then swung a hard punch into the Soc's jaw. The Soc grunted and fell backwards and Dally jumped on him, slugging the tar out of him, he had only used the blade to spook him. That's when everything started. The other Soc boys ran forward. We barley outnumbered them, so each of the older boys had their own soc to take on and that left the last and one of the bigger soc's to Ponyboy, Johnny and me.

We charged him. I ran forward and jumped on his back tugging his hair while the boys punched him. As he was thrashing around my blade fell out of my pocket and onto the ground. The Soc saw it and tried to bend down and get it but he was caught off balance with me and the other two attacking him so he fell on his side hard. I couldn't let go of him in time so we both hit. My head slammed against some of the gravel that was hidden in the green grass and for some reason I was reminded of a bowling pin being hit and rocking around before it finally fell. My brain seemed to rattle and I got dizzy everything spinning or blurry. The soc broke away from my grip and crawled a little way until he got to my knife. Ponyboy and Johnny paused for a moment looking down at me a little worried. But that gave the Soc time to grab my knife and jump up switching out the blade.

At that moment everything seemed to slow down, Ponyboy and Johnny stayed frozen. I looked up at the Soc groggily; he held the switch tightly thrusting it forward when any of us made the slightest move. I had seen the boys in the gang put in this position before and I knew to win they just had to attack with all they had and not be afraid to get hurt. But even thought I tried to tell myself that I could do that to and I wasn't afraid. I couldn't do it. I was afraid I was scared of that big Soc and the sharp blade. The younger boys were too I could tell so I took a deep shaking breath, gritting my teeth hoping that when it happened it would be fast and wouldn't hurt that bad. Still dizzy I moved forward in the grass and grabbed the Soc's ankle with my arms and tugged it trying to throw him off balance. But he was too heavy and he didn't budge. He pulled his other foot back and kicked me in the head hard. This time everything went black and my whole body went limp. Then I heard and felt nothing as silent blackness crept over me.

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**Read it. Comment it. Give me any ideas or suggestions please :)**

**the 3rd chapter is written down on my notebook but my boyfriend and I are pretty busy lately so I'll try to get it up as soon as I can**


	3. Chapter 3

**IIIIIIII'''''MMMMMM BACK! I've made it one of my goals to write more! But to help me do it I really need feedback from you guys and reviews or if you got sugestions or wanna help just tell me! Nothing negitive pleasse unless your going to help me :)**

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**I don't own the Outsiders**

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**Alice P.O.V.**

I came around only a few minutes later to find that Soc on top of me, his knees pinning my arms on the ground. He must have thrown Johnny and Ponyboy off again because they were only a few feet away getting back up from the ground. The Soc's hand was over my mouth and his other had exploring the rest of me. This sent my mind into overload, I didn't realize anything that was happening around me, and I forgot that I was with Dally, Darry and his gang playing football in the lot. Flashes of men, big, ugly, drunken men popped into my head and they were standing around me now, watching as my dad's own big sweaty palm was covering my mouth and his rough hands touching me. I was in pain. I wanted it to stop. 'Daddy, please stop it hurts too much.'

Muffled screams were loud enough they were echoing in my ears. I kicked and thrashed around violently trying to get him off but my dad had to weight around 200 pounds. His laughter and his buddies' laughter started to drown out my screams. But suddenly my screams weren't muffled anymore but loud and piercing, the pain was gone and the weight on my chest was gone. I opened my eyes and my dad and the rest of the drunken men were gone. Instead I came back to reality and the Soc that was on my was being lifted off the ground by his ski jacket by Darry, who seemed huge compared to the Soc. Darry tossed the Soc feet across the field like he weighed less than a football. Slowly I sat up, shaking all over; my screams had turned into panic- stricken shrikes that I muffled with my hand. All the Socs were running for their cars now, most of them looking pretty banged up. All the greaser boys whooped and hollered in celebration. They didn't look as beat up as the Socs did but a few of them had black eyes or busted lips.

Once the Socs were gone, Darry turned around to look at me full of concern. "Alice? Are you okay?" he asked slowly like he was talking to an injured animal.

I realized I was shaking in convulsions, and my muffled shrikes were threatening to turn into sobs, tears stung my eyes but I refused to let them come. I was over this. Time to suck it up. That's what I told myself, didn't mean my body listened.

"Alice!" Dally called as he and the rest of the gang came jogging over to me. Dally kneeled down beside me and put a hand on my shoulder giving me a rough shake to snap me out of it. He knew what had happened to me. He knew what I saw. He knew these boys could never know. I was ashamed of it so I never wanted anyone to know. "You alright, girl?"

Slowly I nodded and then regretted it when I realized my splitting headache. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just a headache."

"He kicked you really hard you were out of it for a couple minutes." Ponyboy said, quietly standing up and brushing dirt off his track tee-shirt.

"You might have a concussion…" Darry said. They all were keeping their distance from me and they had weary looks on their faces. My little fit must have scared them.

I shook my head and again regretted it. "No, no. I'm fine." Actually I didn't feel fine. My head felt like someone hit it with a baseball bat and my stomach kept turning. "Are you guys ok?"

I looked around at all of them making sure no serious damage was done. Johnny and Ponyboy were fine, just dusty from being thrown in the dirt. Darry and Sodapop didn't have a scratch on them. But Two-Bit had a busted lip, Steve had a black eye and busted lip and Dally looked like he might have a nice bruise coming along on his jaw. This was all stuff that would be over looked in New York. No one worried one bit about black eyes or busted lips, if you weren't bleeding from a gunshot wound then you were fine. But I still worried about it. These boys were too nice to deserve to get roughed up like this. The gang back in New York deserved everything they got.

"We're just dandy!" Two-Bit smiled, his comical goofy grin coming back. He pointed to his bleeding lip. "This makes us look tuff."

I glanced at Dally and he just rolled his eyes. "Alright. Get up." He grumbled grabbing me by the front of my shirt and hauling me to my feet. The earth was spinning way to fast that my stomach turned and I wanted to vomit. I stumbled back and forth but Dally kept his grip on me, shaking me out of it when I started to fall. This was normal Dallas Winston. He couldn't be gentle with anyone to save his life.

The boys weren't looking at me like I was crazy anymore. Instead they started to talk about the fight that just went on and brag about how they took their Soc down. Darry was the only one who didn't boast about taking down the 2 biggest Soc's. As we walked back down the streets to our houses, well Dally more like dragged me, I could feel Darry's cool, hard stare with a hint of worry in the back on my head. I wished he would forget back it like the others did. The last thing I needed was someone questioning me about it because it made me nervous and stressed to have to lie about it. In New York people saw it but ignored it. Nothing new. No questions asked.

Two-Bit sighed and leaned against the Curtis's chain linked fence. "Well that was a fun way to end a football game"

"The football game never even started," Sodapop reminded him, then jumped on Steve's back and they reenacted how they took down their Soc.

Their loud shouts and laughter made my head pulse. All I wanted to do now was fall fast asleep but when I looked at the setting sun I was afraid. I was scared of going into that creaky hold house waiting for my dad to get home drunk and dangerous. But I was terrified of going asleep and Dally and these boys being gone. I was terrified that this was all a dream and I would wake up tomorrow back in New York alone. No Seth to joke around with me and make me laugh as he walked me to work. No Melina at work for me to talk to and for us to protect each other as the other Cosmo girls talked behind our backs or threatened to rip our hair out at the end of the day. Tomorrow I would wake up alone, fix my dad his breakfast, lunch and dinner and pray for a day of peace, then go to work listening to all the other greaser girls gossip, go stand next to Donny silently as he talked bull in front of the rest if the gang, then finally go home and wait for it to start all over again.

"We have to try and play again soon, Darry," the youngest Curtis said looking up at his older brother with almost pleading eyes.

Darry sighed. "We'll see when I'm off work next."

Ponyboy's expression looked like he was hiding disappointment looking down at his worn out sneakers. Darry talked like he was an old wise man and his shoulders looked stiff and ridged that told me he must work a lot. It must be tough on him just as much as the younger two. He had to turn into a parent when he was just 18 when he should've gone to college. He now had bills to pay and mouths to feed. I knew how hard it was to keep growing boys feed and full. Gang girls would have to pretend to get along every Sunday and prepare a huge meal for the entire gang. They liked to think of it as "family time" when really it was just an opportunity to get everyone together and talked about who could whip who and who jumped who that week.

"Where do you work?" I asked, curiously.

He looked down at me with those cold eyes and my heart raced again making me wish he were still teaching me how to throw a football. "I'm a roofer." He said shortly then looked away.

The way he said it so short and curtly, hurt. I must have been wrong about him teaching me how to play football. He must not like me, he was probably just teaching me so his team would win. I looked down at my own white hand-me down sneakers a little put out.

Dally lite up a cigarette and mused my hair. "Well, I better take little Alice here in and then I'm gonna head over to Buck's party tonight."

I rolled my eyes at the ground and mumbled. "I'm not a little kid I can take myself in."

Dally smirked. "Younger than me."

"Barley. By a couple months."

"Someone's gotta watch over you if Seth aint here to do it." He said, louder, flipping up the collar of his black leather jacket.

When he mentioned Seth I got mad and was about to stomp off into my own house by myself. But I started at his leather jacket then looked down at myself; I was only wearing my now dirty white tee-shirt with tiny embroidered flowers and jeans. "Seth's jacket!" I shirked, a pain shooting through my head. "And my switchblade! We have to go find it!" All the boys looked at me and I started shaking nervously. I needed those things back. They were all I had left of Seth!

"We'll go back with you and look for them..." Two-Bit said, sympathetically.

"It's dark now." Dally objected. "No sense searching blindly in the dark for them. Look for them tomorrow."

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**Dally's P.O.V.**

Alice looked up at me with those big brown eyes about to protest but I grabbed her arm and turned her towards her new house. I was getting sick of the secret looks and messages Darry was giving me about getting her home and in bed. All the other boys had choice to ignore it because she was playing it off like no big deal but Alice looked like hell. That kick to the head probably did give her some kinda concussion because a big bruise was forming at her temple and hairline, her eyes were glassy and distant, and she was shaky and pale. A few times she had turned green and I thought she was goin to spill her guts all over someone's shoes. But I think the mental scare that Soc gave me rattled her the most and was the reason she looked like she was about to fall apart.

"Forget it, Alice. Get'em tomorrow."

"Aren't you two gonna come in and get chocolate cake and play poker?" Sodapop called behind us as I marched her across the street.

"Naw. Maybe later." I called back opening the bent chain linked fence gate.

"Thanks for letting me play football," Alice called softly, weakly over her shoulder. I rolled my eyes. Why was she always so nice?

The gang watched us go inside the house then Darry herded them into the Curtis house. As soon as we were in the house I shooed Alice off to go get ready for bed. She did as told silently and I sat on the living room couch looking around at the new place. This apartment could have been an exact replica of the one back in New York only since they had so much more space now the furniture was spread out into the different rooms. There was a pack of opened cigarettes on the wooden stump of a coffee table I helped myself to a few, taking one for now and a couple more I put in my jacket pocket for later. Alice's old man was too drunk to notice if they were gone.

From the bathroom I could hear gagging and I rushed to the door to find Alice on her hands and knees getting sick in the toilet. I grimaced and looked away waiting for her to finish. When she was done she slumped back against the claw foot tub her head in her hands. I graded a torn brown washcloth that was laying on the sink, wet it and handed it to her then leaned against the bathroom doorway playing with my lighter.

"Thanks..." she whispered wiping her mouth and hands clean then shakily pushing herself up to lean over the sink she grabbed her toothbrush.

"How's Donny and those boys, huh?" I asked conversationally waiting for her to get done.

She spat then washed her mouth and face. "Donny was in the cooler when I left for armed robbery of a drug store. Probably one of his best stashes yet. He got 150bucks from the cash register, all the cigarettes and logs of snuff he could want."

I laughed. "You and him still going steady?"

She shook her head then shuffled past me down the hall to her new room. "No...He doesn't know it yet but he will once he gets out. He was two timing me anyway. We were only together cause Seth thought it was a good idea."

I took my time following figuring she was getting undressed. If it were any other girl I would be in the doorway watching but Alice was different. She was like my sister and she made me actually want to respect her privacy. When I finally did peek into the dark room to see if she were done I caught a glimpse of her bare skin. She was turned away from me fiddling with the new shirt she was about to put on. Her back was bare, pale and boney. You could see her rips and spine but you could also see dark black and purple bruises and, red or pink cuts or scars. Her old man was sick to do that to his own daughter. My teeth clenched and i balled up my fists thinking about him doing that to her. No girl deserved that. Not even a Soc girl. I look away and she put her shirt on. There wasn't any furniture in her room, not even curtains on the single window. She only had a matt and a ripped up blanket on the floor, she used a throw pillow she took off the couch in the living room as her pillow and what little clothes she had were folded up neatly in the corner of the room.

"You don't have to stay, Dally, go to your party." she told me, fully dressed in her pajamas of one of Seth's old oversized navy blue tee-shirt. Her choppy blond hair was sticking up in every other direction and her eyes were fighting to stay open.

Slowly I nodded. "Yeah, I better hurry my dame should be waiting for me. You goin to be alright?"

"I'll be fine." she sank down to her knees next to her matt pulling back the blanket.

"And when your old man comes back?"

"He's getting old now so he can't tolerate alcohol as much. By the time he comes home he'll just pass out."

Awkwardly I nodded, stuffin my fists in my pockets. "Alright. I'll be by to check on ya' tomorrow."

She nodded and gave me a small smile. "Thanks, Dally."

"Mhm..." I mumbled then turned to walk off.

The party at Bucks was loud and wild just like it always was. But the music ground at my every nerve. Hank Williams. The sound of it made my teeth clench. Just as I walked through the door I spotted Tim Shepard in the far room playin pool with an outcast Soc to see who would get that blond headed girl with the short skirt. More of Tim's boys were playing poker in the corner for cigarettes. My on again off again girlfriend, Silvia was leaning against the bar closest to the door, wearing a short sexy red dress and matching high heels that sparkled in the lights of the room. When she spotted me she smiled and flipped her long, dark, red hair back over her shoulder and strode towards me taking a long drag on her cigarette between her fingers. She grabbed the front of my black leather jacket and leaned into me blowing perfect smoke rings in my face. "Hey, Dally! What took you so long? I've missed you," she murmured silkily, reaching up to kiss me deeply.

I rolled my eyes but kissed her back halfheartedly. The only reason I kept Silvia around was when I needed someone to fool around with. She wasn't loyal to me. Whenever I was in the can she would two-time me. But it didn't bother me because I have two-timed her too. So I mostly picked and chose when I wanted her around. Right now wasn't one of those times. I had to make an important phone call.

"Common, Dally, buy me a drink," she giggled pullin me to the bar by my jacket. When I didn't pull out my wallet right away she looked at me puzzled.

"I'll buy you a drink later, honey, right now i got business to do." I said distracted looking for Buck.

"Humph!" She whined crossing her arms over her chest.

I spotted Buck further down the bar then flashed Sylvia a smile. "I'll be back, doll." I said, slappin her ass then pushing my way through the crowd to Buck. Sylvia stood and pouted where she was her arms crossed over her chest and tapping her high heel again the floor so it made a loud slapping sound.

"Hey, Buck! I need to use your phone!" I yelled to him when I couldn't get to him through the crowd.

He looked up from the two ladies he had his arms around. "Upstairs!" he called, drunkenly.

I took the stairs 2 at time thinking about the hollering I was getting to get for calling this late. No one wants to wake a pregnant woman up, especially not this one. The phone was sitting on a small wooden side table at the top of the stairs. I dialed the number and waited from the screaming to start.

"Hello?" a man answered his voice deep and still half asleep.

"Hey, man. It's Dally. How you doin?"

"Who is it, baby?" I heard a sleepy woman ask softly somewhere behind him.

"Dallas, do you know what time it is?" the man said more angrily now. I could hear the bed creek as he sat up.

"Dally? What's he doin calling this late? Doesn't he know you work 4 in the morning every day? Doesn't he know me and the baby need sleep?" the woman shirked behind him and I laughed because that was the reaction I knew she would have.

"Melina still hasn't popped that kid yet? She must be getting huge."

"She's still a few weeks off. Doctor said it's better to have a late baby than an early baby like Alice was."

I nodded. "You wouldn't believe where Alice is now, Seth."

It was silent for a long time on his end as he interrupted the meaning of that. "Is she ok? Is he treating her good?"

"Same as always nothing she can't handle. I think she's more shook up since you and Melina split-"

"If there were a way I could support her too I would have brought her along, Dallas, but it's to dangerous. I can barely support Melina and this baby as is-"

"I aint blaming you, Seth, now that she's here I'll keep my eye on her. It's better for you two that she stayed behind. She doesn't know anything so the fuzz has left her alone…"I was silent for a while kicking the ground, this idea had been stuck in my head all day. "But look dose anyone else know what happened?"

"Only Donny because he was to look after Alice when I left. He wouldn't rat me out."

"No, man…I mean…Do you think your old man knows?"

It was dead silent on the other end. "There's no way…" Seth mumbled to himself. "The old man was so drunk…There's no way he can remember what happened…Do you think he's following us?"

I looked down the stairs to see Sylvia waiting for me at the bottom. "What do you mean he couldn't remember? Did he see something?"

"He saw the blood on my shirt and my heater when I came back to say goodbye to Alice…He threw me against the wall and threatened to call the cops of me but I knocked him out cold…"

"I was just wondering…Why else would your old man move so far away from all the booze and drugs of New York." Seth cursed and behind him I heard Melina ask what was wrong. Sylvia was starting up the stairs now and I cursed too. "Look, man, I'll keep an eye on him for a few days and call you back." Before Seth could reply I hung up the phone.

"Who was that?" Sylvia asked, curiously.

"My brother he's worried about our dad being sick." I lied, bushing past her down the stairs.

"He's sick? Oh, poor Dally!" She cooed grabbing onto me again.

I jerked away from her and headed for the door. "I'm out of here. Party's lame."

"But what about that drink?" She called behind me but it was too late I was already out the door and heading to the Curtis house for a nice slab of chocolate cake and a good poker game. It was best to stay near Alice's house tonight in case she got into any trouble or incase her dad went off hunting for Seth and Melina.

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